Asian elephants are suffering greatly at the hands of poachers. The illegal elephant trade is flourishing in Thailand & Burma, where wild elephants are captured and sold for their ivory or for tourism. Baby elephants are the most valuable commodities...

The booming industry of baby elephant camps for British tourists visiting Thailand is fueling a brutal smuggling trade, killing as many as 5 Asian elephants in the Burma wild for each stolen baby, which is then beaten and starved to break its spirit.

Recently, details have emerged of the horrific 'training' of baby elephants in Burma. Wild elephants are typically tied up and beaten for 3 days straight, without food. The goal is to break the elephant's spirit.

A baby elephant braces for a hit during a training session in a Karen village in Burma. The training session is coined the 'crush' as its goal is to break the elephant's spirit. Wild elephants are typically tied up and beaten for 3 days straight and left

It is said that elephants never forget and Auckland Zoo says 27-year-old Burma has not recovered from her companion Kashin's death in August last year.
"Since Kashin died in August 2009, Burma continues to be monitored closely," the zoo says in a

A tiny fish with "Dracula-like" teeth has been discovered in a stream in northern Burma.The Danionella dracula fish are 17mm (0.6ins) long and part of the Cypriniform group of carp-like fishes.
It was found in April 2007, but has now been officially de

Visitors to Auckland Zoo regularly rate the two elephants, Kashin, 40 and Burma, 26, among their favourite attractions. But Kashin is not expected to live more than another five years and because elephants are extremely social creatures, Burma cannot be l

Burma is at the centre of an illegal trade in elephants and ivory, with more than 250 live animals smuggled out of the country in the past decade, a report said on Wednesday.
Most of the elephants were destined for use in the tourist trekking industry